Re-viewing the DIY scene

Dead Kennedys!!!!!! (sort of)

last friday, like i had been saying for days, was an epic & historical moment for me…well, sort of.

first of all, trying to find the oakland metro theatre & opera house ended up being absolutely ridiculous. but after driving around some of the shadier areas of oakland (as if its not shady enough), we finally found the venue, the name of which is very misleading. though it may have been an opera house at some old timey time, it turns out to actually be pretty much the most punk rock venues ive been to in a long while, consisting of two large warehouses, a small bar/lounge, a few restrooms, & thats about all. of course this was very suiting to what was one of the most punk rock shows ive been to in a long time also.

upon walking into the main room, the band the disciples, were already on stage & about halfway through their set. these guys were a bit of an eclectic bunch. the lead singer looked kind of like an old biker/oi punk, one guitarist looked like he had just left a blink-182 cover band (but he did have a tattoo of raphael the teenage mutant ninja turtle, which in my opinion is pretty damn hardcore!), the other guitarist looked like a post-punk/indie/emo kid, the bassist was more likely to be seen at a cypress hill concert, & the drummer had a big mountain man beard. but they played a solid punk rock set; aggressive, loud, intense, & fast. the one song that really stuck out for me was entitled “blessed are the damned”, a very tongue in cheek anthem praising all those mixed up, lost & lonely souls, with the repeating chorus chant, “blessed are the damned”.

following up after the disciples, was the first of the night’s two bay area legends, flipper. personally these guys (& one lady) pretty much stole the show. the two original members, being the lead singer & guitarist, were well beyond their prime, but they didnt let that keep them down & from causing a raucous! frontman bruce loose, despite & maybe even because he spent a lot of the set sitting on a barstool (due to back pains/surgery),  was a shining example of your iconic punk rock frontman, saying anything he wanted, brandishing it as absolute truth, prowling the stage, cackling out lyrics, knocking over the bassist, & causing all around pandemonium. the guitarist ted quickly became a new personal hero of mine, giving little regard to sounding “good” but rather just had a great time, making lots of noise, wailing away on his trashy old guitar, & spending some of the songs just standing there with his hands on his hips, letting the feedback squeal. these two crazy fellas were joined by a lovely female bassist, rachel, who pounded out thick rhythms & stumbled around the stage with her hair in her face most of the time, & a young drummer with plenty of energy to keep the crowd bouncing. their set was gripping & a great pleasure for all who attended. at the close of their set they invited handfuls of folks to come on stage & sing the closing song, & soon the stage was over crowded by young skinny little girls bouncing & dancing about, wild grungy little boys screaming in the mic, one bald & gray bearded old man who was far cooler than any of the other kids screaming, & droves of stage diving maniacs.

but everyone was brimming with anticipation for the upcoming act. cheers would burst forth as each member would come out on stage, just to set up their equipment (who wouldve thought such legends dont have roadies to do that for them…a sign they held tight to there street cred?). before they took the stage to perform, though, there was a bit of a ridiculous western intro played over the loud speakers. but from then on it was a non-stop freight train of punk anthem screaming & body slamming chaos. what a great feeling to get pounded in more body parts you could count by more random people youve never met. there was pretty much no one nor way to avoid the surging, pushing, pulling, kicking, punching, tearing, & all around frantic movement of the crowd, so the best you could do was just bounce along with it. it was absolutely amazing to see & hear some of the songs that got me through adolescence being performed right in front of me, by the very (old) guys who had written & recorded them over ten years ago. well almost all of the guys…the one thing that i had been wondering about for the days before this show was, which of the original members were going to be on stage? ultimately i assumed that, due to the many years of legal disputes between the front man & rest of the band over licensing rights, original frontman & vocalist jello biafra HAD to be there, & the rest of the band would be a surprise. but of course it ended up being the exact opposite. all the original members were there,  but they had hired a new vocalist (i should admit though, as embarrassing as it is, i didnt realize it wasnt jello until after the show & i went up & told him how much of an influence he was on me & asked if he remembered one of my friends who had worked at alternative tentacles). yeah, im a dork, i know. well regardless of this fact, these guys were amazing! they kept the show moving hard & fast for at least an hour, followed by two encores, full of classics like winnibago warrior, holiday in cambodia, nazi punks f**koff, & viva las vegas.

it was a great night, & i can check that event off my list of “needs to happen before i die”, at least half, i still need to go see biafra someday.